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Solution Provided
The production facility at Homburg demonstrates what can be achieved with Industry 4.0. With one specific manual production line struggling to keep up with Bosch Rexroth’s commitment to quality, and the demands of its customer base, the company set out to adopt a zero failure strategy. The core of the problem was that the line was manufacturing six main valve product types with 250 variants and 2,000 individual parts. What’s more, the line had to be highly flexible, working with small batch sizes requiring assembly experts for each product family. The solution was to use Industry 4.0 philosophies of connectivity while keeping employees at the heart of the process.
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About Industry 4.0
The Bosch Rexroth facility at Homburg, in the Saarland region of Germany, manufactures hydraulic valves for mobile machinery, such as tractors and fork lift trucks. The market for hydraulic valves is very demanding in terms of quality so the need to match this with a highly complex production line is vital.
Industry 4.0 in action at Bosch Rexroth Homburg facility Meeting customer demands and delivering continued
commitment to quality with a zero failure strategy.
Productivity savings from Industry 4.0 can be achievable now.”
Highlights
f Complex production line
f Meeting customer demands
f Significant improvement in quality, cost and delivery times
f Zero failure strategy f Autonomous,
connected workspace
Dr Matthias Möller, Director of the technology and process planning department at Bosch Rexroth’s Homburg plant.
Connectivity, open standards and virtual representation of information
About Bosch Rexroth
Economical, precise, safe and energy efficient: drive and control technology from Bosch Rexroth moves machines and systems of any size. The company bundles global application experience in the market segments of Mobile Applications, Machinery Applications and Engineering, and Factory Automation to develop innovative products as well as tailored system solutions and services.
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The Solution
For Dr Möller, the solution was to use Industry 4.0 philosophies - connectivity, open standards and virtual representation of information - while keeping people at the heart of the process.
The valve production line at Homburg was re-engineered into nine autonomous workstations with RFID chips collecting and collating data used to frame the decision-making process. These workstations can quickly switch between product lines when required.
Using a technology called ActiveAssist, work steps for each product type are displayed to employees at each workstation and are tailored to individual needs. This facilitates quick and easy learning, aids flexibility, and also eliminates errors.The ‘brain’ of the Homburg line is another Bosch Rexroth innovation, ActiveCockpit, an interactive manufacturing system that provides a digital connection between operator, product, workstation and process. It collects, filters and visualises manufacturing data continuously, giving employees and management real-time data to facilitate fast decision-making.
The Results
Since implementing Industry 4.0, logistical and set-up time was reduced from 450 seconds in 2014 to zero one year later. Inventory days were lowered in the same period from three days down to 1.5 days, with cycle times cut from 474 seconds to 438 seconds.
“Our experiences in Homburg demonstrate that productivity savings from Industry 4.0 can be achievable now and are fully scalable. We’ve already seen a 30 per cent stock reduction, eliminated set-up time, and achieved a 10 per cent output increase, resulting in an annual saving of €500,000.” says Dr Möller.
Going forward, Dr Möller believes that Industry 4.0 techniques will be implemented across other lines in the plant. “We are implementing I4.0 solutions to the next steps in our value stream. We are certain there are huge potential benefits from connecting the worker, machine and material in industrial production in this way.”
www.boschrexroth.co.uk/industry4.0
0345 6044106
